Mexico is more free market, ultra-capitalistic but there are certain exceptions like petroleum and energy and telecommunications (which can be argued one way or the other). 
The things you would be most happily surprised by when moving or retiring abroad might depend on what country you ended up in. I’m from Ireland. I’ve lived in different countries and every country has its own idiosyncrasies. 
You cannot buy furniture in Placencia but you can buy furniture in Belize City, in Mexico, or you can ship down your furniture from a port in Florida or somewhere else. At our project, we have a person who works with every end owner, whether it is a home or a condo, if they want to ship their furniture and belongings from the States, Canada, or Europe. We also have several interior designers that the end buyer of a home or condo can work with at our resort. 
Before, when you got to Panama, you received a 90-day visa. The international law in Panama states that if you have a driver’s license from a foreign country, you are allowed to drive on your native country’s driver’s license for the duration of your visa, which is 90 days. Panama increased the visa period to 6 months for Canadians and Americans. So, you can literally have a visa for 6 months, but because of the technicality of the law, you can only...
Yes, you can buy good clothes in Portugal. Now That Our Road Trip is Over, I Can Tell You What It Was Really Like to Live in Mexico for a Year
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Maybe my wife and I lead lives a lot like yours.Or at least we did, until about a year ago. That’s when we sold our comfortable home in Arizona, sold, gave away or put into storage about 90% of our “stuff,” packed the rest into a big white van, and along with our two dogs, spent a year traveling around Mexico.
Why did we do it? For an adventure before we were too old to do it and to see if we liked anywhere along the way as a place to...
Three years ago UNESCO recognized two of my favorite places as World Heritage Sites. 
El Pinacate and Gran Altar Desert is an ecosystem...
"Come sit next to me", said Sheyla. I followed her, wondering if it would calm my anxiety. Immediately I knew that we were going to be good friends. Our families were in countries far away, and this tropical land, its language and people was all we had. I was 12, did not speak any Spanish, but I knew this experience would change me forever.